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Karen Burt

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Karen Burt
Born
Karen Ann Hilsum

(1954-11-26)26 November 1954
Died20 June 1997(1997-06-20) (aged 42)
Islington, London, England
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge
University of Reading
OrganizationWomen's Engineering Society
Known forAdvocacy
Engineering

Karen Ann Hilsum Burt (née Hilsum) CPhys MInstP (26 November 1954 - 20 June 1997) was a British engineer and campaigner for the recruitment and retention of women in engineering.

Early life and education

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Burt attended Hillside School, Malvern and Worcester Girl's Grammar School.[1] She studied at Newnham College, Cambridge[2] and completed a PhD in electron microscopy at the University of Reading.[2]

Career

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Burt joined British Aerospace as a project engineer for scientific satellites,[3] and was eventually promoted to senior systems engineer.[2] Subsequently, she developed an interest in management, becoming a Business Acquisition Manager.[3]

Burt left British Aerospace and established her own consultancy.[3] In addition, she helped University College London establish the Centre for Advanced Instrumentation Systems.[2][4] She contributed to the Women's Engineering Society, Institute of Physics and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.[5] In 1983 and 1984 Burt presented a Faraday Lecture, Let's Build A Satellite, on behalf of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and British Aerospace.[6]

She was appointed to the London Branch Committee of the Women's Engineering Society in 1987.[7] She was a campaigner for career breaks and gave advice to members of the Women's Engineering Society in how to manage returning to work.[8] Burt was appointed to the Women's Engineering Society Council in 1991.[8] She presented at the 1991 International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists.[6] Having just accepted a faculty position at University College London, Burt suffered a fatal stroke in June 1997.[2][9] aged only 42.[10]

Legacy

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Since 1999, the Women's Engineering Society have celebrated Karen Burt with a memorial award for newly chartered women in engineering, applied science or information technology.[2][11] Each year the Women's Engineering Society requests one nomination from each participating Professional Engineering Institution, and from these a winner is chosen. The award recognises significant potential in engineering [2][12] and it was originally set up to encourage a greater number of women to aim for, and to celebrate, the achievement of Chartered Engineer status.[3] Winners receive £1,000, at the bequest of her father, Cyril Hilsum.[5]

Karen Burt Award Winners

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Source:[13]

References

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  1. ^ "Karen Burt (Nee Hilsum) – Brilliant Boffin". 25 February 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "The Karen Burt Memorial Award | Women's Engineering Society". www.wes.org.uk. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d "The Karen Burt Memorial Award | Women's Engineering Society". www.wes.org.uk. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  4. ^ Tunnicliffe, Helen. "IChemE Member Madeleine Jones wins Karen Burt Award". www.thechemicalengineer.com. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  5. ^ a b "About the Award | Karen Burt Award | Awards and competitions | Events | BCS - The Chartered Institute for IT". www.bcs.org. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  6. ^ a b "The Woman Engineer Volume 15". www.theiet.org. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  7. ^ "The Woman Engineer Volume 13". www.theiet.org. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  8. ^ a b "The Woman Engineer Volume 14". www.theiet.org. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  9. ^ "The Woman Engineer". www.theiet.org. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  10. ^ "United Kingdom Obituary Archive - 1997 - Page 2". www.genlookups.com. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  11. ^ "The Woman Engineer Volume 16". www.theiet.org. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  12. ^ "Karen Burt Award". www.bcs.org. BCS - The Chartered Institute for IT. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  13. ^ "Previous Karen Burt Award Winners | Women's Engineering Society". www.wes.org.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2018.